OLLIE & LAURA
‘Love Conquers all’ Our Elopement
Everything is a bit different this year, so following in those steps, I thought it would be lovely to share this piece/testimonial on Laura & Ollie’s elopement written by the couple themselves, rather than me!
‘We were originally planning to have a big wedding last July, but like every other couple planning a 2020 wedding, our plans couldn’t go ahead. Rather then putting our wedding on hold for God only knows how long, we decided to Elope to Gretna Green and have a Christmas wedding – just the two of us and the dog! We’d both been married before so secretly a smaller wedding a second time around was perfect.
We hadn’t actually gotten around to booking a photographer for our July wedding before it was postponed, as we were a bit delayed pulling it all together. Catherine had reached out to me in the Summer to see if we wanted any outside engagement photos done, which due to the lack of a hair appointment and four inches of roots I never took her up on! However when we decided to elope, she was first on my list to call.
Even though it was only going to be a very small wedding, we still wanted to beautifully document the whole day and decided against using the standard photographer that Gretna Green provided. We wanted a range of timeless, creative and personal photos that we could keep for ever. Our Wedding was to be featured in Hello magazine, so we knew the importance of using a photographer that had worked with magazines before. Catherine has worked with numerous magazines throughout her professional career which made us incredibly comfortable and confident in her ability to make things run smoothly.
Covering our elopement was no mean feat – three hours drive to The Lake District with Pre Wedding Photographs of us getting ready at the hotel, a forty five minute drive to Gretna Green for the perfectly intimate ceremony. Then finally an hour and a half race back to Lake Windemere in some of the worst weather conditions, chasing the light for stunning creative shots in the breathtaking countryside. Oh and by the way, can you stay until it’s dark so we can have a load of pictures of us in our camper van, sat round a camp fire? Catherine was so unbelievably flexible and worked with all our crazy ideas to make the impossible possible, whilst personalising everything to us. She even borrowed a pair of wellies and waded into the lake to capture THE shot of the day! That’s dedication!
We are absolutely blown away by the quality of our photos. They have perfectly documented every part of our elopement so that all our family and friends that weren’t able to share our wedding with us due to the restrictions now feel like they have been part of it. It’s so hard to choose our favourite images! Catherine’s attention to detail and creativity is second to none – she has over delivered on everything we asked her to do. Having her as part of our wedding was the best investment we could make.
If you are considering eloping in these uncertain times then my advice to you would be, not to think that a photographer is obsolete just because you are having a small wedding. Use the money you are saving to invest in a great photographer. Catherine is the ultimate professional and I wouldn’t hesitate to use her again when we can throw a massive party to celebrate!
Thank you and Congratulations Ollie and Laura